Jeff Hart

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal has advanced to the fourth round with a 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-3 win over Nicolas Kiefer in fading light at Wimbledon.

One swing from completing her week's work, Venus Williams toed the baseline, dribbled the ball, gave it a toss and delivered yet another thunderclap serve at sun-kissed Wimbledon. The scoreboard said 127 mph, the fastest women's serve ever recorded at Wimbledon. The scoreboard also had Williams winning 6-1, 7-5 Saturday over qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Germany captain Michael Ballack missed his team's last practice Saturday because of a calf injury, putting him in doubt for Sunday's European Championship final against Spain.

Rookie Patrick Carpentier grabbed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Canadian driver, whose last pole came in a Champ Car in 2004 on the road course in Laguna Seca, Calif., was among the drivers who had to wait out a nearly two-hour rain delay before getting a shot at qualifying for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

Tony Stewart isn't running many races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this series, so he's making the ones he does drive in count. The two-time Sprint Cup champion, who hasn't been having much luck and has no wins in the top stock car series this season, drove away Saturday with his fifth victory in seven Nationwide starts in 2008.

Tyson Gay got quite a fright in his first race Saturday. He set a record in his second. Gay broke Maurice Greene's American mark in the 100 meters by running 9.77 seconds in his quarterfinal at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Canton scored six runs in the top of the 10th to pull out a 15-9 American Legion win over the Gainesville A's Tuesday at Ivey-Watson Field.

Joey Lewis hit a tiebreaking double in Georgia's four-run eighth inning, and the Bulldogs came from three runs down to defeat Fresno State 7-6 in Game 1 of the College World Series finals on Monday night.

Georgia Tech golfer Chesson Hadley and Georgia's Adam Mitchell will be members of the same team next week as U.S. collegiate golfers take part in the Palmer Cup competition.

The Atlanta Thrashers picked a local boy in the NHL entry draft Saturday. Right wing Vinny Saponari was chosen in the fourth round, 94th overall, to highlight the day for the Thrashers.